Five and Alive: The Past is Now

I can't remember when the last Five and Alive happened, but for some reason I have a ton of half-written ideas on my desktop. After the release of this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest line-up and our Absolute Classics column, I decided to go with this one. It's been a great year for music, but there's always time to discover or even rediscover what you missed out on in the past. Here are five albums I've been rocking hardcore this past year in lieu of that mindset. What have you dug up this year? What albums finally hit you the right way years later? Share your love in the replies.

Downward is Heavenward is a true masterpiece. Hum captured the sonic essence of The Smashing Pumpkins and mixed in their own brand of calculus and poetic prose to create something that still sounds unique, some 13 years later. They're still my favorite band that almost nobody knows.

Kid A by Radiohead took a few years to grow on me. I wasn't used to the whole electronic thing, but I started to appreciate its sound.

Cold Roses by Ryan Adams took a while too. I loved his stuff on Gold and was not a big fan of country. But his fantastic writing persuaded me, especially in "Meadowlake Street". I related to it so much now in my life, along with a majority of the other songs, it's just crazy:i feel like a dream that's not having
Like a nervous joke ain't nobody laughing
Like somebody with nothing 'cause they don't know
What they're wanting
Tiny like the sand in the cracks of drift wood
Washed up on the shore of an ocean of you

Adam, if you're having a hard time getting into Pavement, I think the best place to start is Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. By far my favorite by them. I love your 5, except I've never heard of HUM. I had the pleasure of seeing Built to Spill last year. Excellent show.

Kid A by Radiohead took a few years to grow on me. I wasn't used to the whole electronic thing, but I started to appreciate its sound.

Cold Roses by Ryan Adams took a while too. I loved his stuff on Gold and was not a big fan of country. But his fantastic writing persuaded me, especially in "Meadowlake Street". I related to it so much now in my life, along with a majority of the other songs, it's just crazy:i feel like a dream that's not having
Like a nervous joke ain't nobody laughing
Like somebody with nothing 'cause they don't know
What they're wanting
Tiny like the sand in the cracks of drift wood
Washed up on the shore of an ocean of you

Adam, if you're having a hard time getting into Pavement, I think the best place to start is Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. By far my favorite by them. I love your 5, except I've never heard of HUM. I had the pleasure of seeing Built to Spill last year. Excellent show.

it's not that I had a hard time getting into Pavement, but it was just the "oh, this band is good" and move on mindset. it never really sunk in. Yes, Crooked Rain is amazing.

The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Good Old War - Only Way To Be Alone
Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
Refused - The Shape of Punk To Come

There has been alot of great albums that came out this year .
but the ones i was looking forward to either turned out like garbage or was better than my expectations .

Falling in reverse-the drug in me is you
this album was a travesty in my opinion i hate it so much i don't even like the singles or demos anymore i mean his voice was so annoying its almost worse than new found glorys chad gilbirts voice but eventually i got over nfg whiny voice and started to like the hipster thing and i didnt even care what they looked like so that didnt play a factor. check out these songs: sink or swim,tragic magic < oh its tragic alright the lyrics are so juvenile like a 15 year girl on her period wrote them

Silverstein-Rescue this album shocked me alot i really wasnt expecting anything at all. im a huge fan have been since 2000 saw the first 5 shows in burlington it was fantastic. this album reminded me of summers stellar gaze meets a shipwreck in the sand meets arrivals and departures . i loved it fast hard inspirational. check out the songs the artist,texas mickey,in memory of.

the full length i looked forward to for 4 years was Close to home-never back down. thi album blew my face off it wasnt the typical cth i came to know it was punky fucky fast lyricaly inspiration it was my favorite album of 2011 and it only came out less than 8 weeks into the year every track was perfection it had everything i loved i loved the punk vocals and the screaming towrds the end of the record but my fovorite tracks had to be picking up the peices ,the veiw from here,sink or swim,all we know,count the ways.

the album that took awhile for me to grow on is Not tonight Josephine-all on the horizon
although im a huge ntj fan hailing from less than ten minutes away from my house this album was different by the time the album stopped playing i felt at times it was too fast not enough meaning or direction or even effort into it .it been a little over 3 month since it came out and i love it. its meaning full the lead voice doesn't sound like a typical grunge voice and drum are perfection. i highly recommend this album for fans of evans blue decyfer down and even nirvana for the bass parts great summer record.

long story short . i never expect anything from albums the meaning for it is ,i wont have anything to be letdown from . and i never truly give up on an album because it sucks i try and give it a chance even multiple because i purchase like 30 new releases a month and i don't want that money wasted and i dont want to keep wasting gas to drop off albums to goodwill or salvation army.

all in all pretty good year for albums theirs ton more i could list but i wont.
the albums im looking forward to are from these bands
:stars go dim,red hot chili peppers,alien ant farm,12 stones,mayday parade,a loss for words,blink 182,scott stapp,the darkness,the offspring

There has been alot of great albums that came out this year .
but the ones i was looking forward to either turned out like garbage or was better than my expectations .

Falling in reverse-the drug in me is you
this album was a travesty in my opinion i hate it so much i don't even like the singles or demos anymore i mean his voice was so annoying its almost worse than new found glorys chad gilbirts voice but eventually i got over nfg whiny voice and started to like the hipster thing and i didnt even care what they looked like so that didnt play a factor. check out these songs: sink or swim,tragic magic < oh its tragic alright the lyrics are so juvenile like a 15 year girl on her period wrote them

Silverstein-Rescue this album shocked me alot i really wasnt expecting anything at all. im a huge fan have been since 2000 saw the first 5 shows in burlington it was fantastic. this album reminded me of summers stellar gaze meets a shipwreck in the sand meets arrivals and departures . i loved it fast hard inspirational. check out the songs the artist,texas mickey,in memory of.

the full length i looked forward to for 4 years was Close to home-never back down. thi album blew my face off it wasnt the typical cth i came to know it was punky fucky fast lyricaly inspiration it was my favorite album of 2011 and it only came out less than 8 weeks into the year every track was perfection it had everything i loved i loved the punk vocals and the screaming towrds the end of the record but my fovorite tracks had to be picking up the peices ,the veiw from here,sink or swim,all we know,count the ways.

the album that took awhile for me to grow on is Not tonight Josephine-all on the horizon
although im a huge ntj fan hailing from less than ten minutes away from my house this album was different by the time the album stopped playing i felt at times it was too fast not enough meaning or direction or even effort into it .it been a little over 3 month since it came out and i love it. its meaning full the lead voice doesn't sound like a typical grunge voice and drum are perfection. i highly recommend this album for fans of evans blue decyfer down and even nirvana for the bass parts great summer record.

long story short . i never expect anything from albums the meaning for it is ,i wont have anything to be letdown from . and i never truly give up on an album because it sucks i try and give it a chance even multiple because i purchase like 30 new releases a month and i don't want that money wasted and i dont want to keep wasting gas to drop off albums to goodwill or salvation army.

all in all pretty good year for albums theirs ton more i could list but i wont.
the albums im looking forward to are from these bands
:stars go dim,red hot chili peppers,alien ant farm,12 stones,mayday parade,a loss for words,blink 182,scott stapp,the darkness,the offspring

Haha I was wondering the same thing. As if the unreadable body of their post wasn't enough, I saw Scott Stapp was one of their most highly anticipated and knew then there is no reason to take this person seriously.

Tennessee by Lucero - Never thought that I'd be into anything that was described as alt country rock, and in fact, always made sure to stay away from it. That was a mistake and this guy is on a whole other level.

The Upbeats and Beatdowns by Five Iron Frenzy - The first ska band I saw live when I little with this album. They were always genuinely fun people and that showed in their music.

Turf Wars by Daggermouth - Not sure how to describe my feelings when I first heard this album except that it reminded me of punk that I really enjoyed from early Hopeless Records days.

Twilight by The Suicide File - An overlooked hardcore band that was more rock n' roll and pissed off than anybody else. I think the drummer went on to play for Britney Spears or something.

Shadows on the Sun by Brother Ali - He has a lot of interesting, straightforward hip-hop lyrics that really speak to his identity of being a Muslim and albino.